Clutch hitting lifts Case baseball past Old Rochester Regional 3-1

Case baseball continued to thrive on Monday afternoon. Clutch hitting late in the ballgame helped back up a strong outing from Cardinals ace Zach Correll, as they topped Old Rochester Regional, 3-1, in an SCC showdown at Case High School.

The Cardinals have won three of their last four.

By Connor Berube

The Herald News, Fall River, MA

By Connor Berube

Posted May. 7, 2013 at 12:01 AM
Updated May 7, 2013 at 7:03 AM

By Connor Berube

Posted May. 7, 2013 at 12:01 AM
Updated May 7, 2013 at 7:03 AM

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Case baseball continued to thrive on Monday afternoon. Clutch hitting late in the ballgame helped back up a strong outing from Cardinals ace Zach Correll, as they topped Old Rochester Regional, 3-1, in an SCC showdown at Case High School.

The Cardinals have won three of their last four.

The Bulldogs manufactured a run to break the scoreless tie in the top of the fourth. Chris Carando had an infield single and Zach Perry smacked a double to left-center to put runners in scoring position. Tyler Zell hit a dribbler to second for the RBI groundout.

Behind 1-0, the Cardinal bats went to work against Bulldogs right-hander Nick Johnson in the bottom half of the fifth. With one out, Aaron Freitas and Trevor Griffin both hit singles. Then, catcher Mike LaFleur pulled Case even with a base hit into the outfield and found himself standing on second thanks to heads up base-running.

With runners on second and third, Cory Andrade hit a chopper to ORR third baseman Andrew Ryan, who threw home in an attempt to nab Griffin, but Griffin slid under the tag of catcher Luke Mattar to score the go-ahead run.

LaFleur attempted to tag up on a fly ball to center, but ended up colliding with Mattar (who held onto the ball) at the plate for the third out.

Anthony Bryson made sure that Case got their insurance run in the next inning, lining a one-out RBI single to left field. Attempting to go for two bases, Bryson escaped a run-down when the Bulldogs’ first baseman dropped the ball.

“Bryson’s hit was enormous. We’ve been seeing a lot of that this season,” Case coach Joel Brown said. “We seem to get hits when we need them.”

Correll threw 95 pitches in seven innings, allowing only three hits for the win. While it wasn’t a big strikeout game for Correll (four), the Bulldogs littered the infield with ground balls and the Cardinal defense took care of the rest.

“He pitched great. I’ve been seeing some more serious intensity on Correll’s part,” Brown said. “He’s become more focused on what he’s doing, which is a good indication on his mindset. Today was also a good sign that our defense is pulling together.”

Cardinal shortstop Cotey Monte flashed some impressive glove work in the second, making a sliding stop and still finding time to catch Ryan at first.

Johnson took a tough loss despite a solid final pitching line, allowing only two earned runs in six innings, while fanning four.